Ricerc@Sapienza

Particulate matter (PM) air pollution represents a major environmental and health issue which largely depends on the type and amount of local emissions in industrial and urban areas. Therefore, the evaluation of the spatial distribution of PM chemical components is fundamental for a reliable identification of emission sources and the assessment of personal exposure.

Particulate matter (PM) is a complex mixture of solid and liquid airborne particles, characterized by different size, shape, chemical composition, solubility and origin [1]. The high costs associated to the definition of a traditional monitoring network determine an increasing demand for new and low-cost techniques for air pollution monitoring [2]. In this context, leaves are often described as efficient passive biomonitors for airborne pollutants such as particulate matter [3].

In 2011 the European Commission (EC) released specific ‘Guidelines’ describing the methods to quantify and subtract the contribution of natural sources from the PM10 values regulated by the European Air Quality Directive (2008/50/EC). This work investigates the applicability to Italy of the EC-Methodology suggested for desert-dust, describes main limitations encountered and proposes specific modifications embedded within a ‘revised-Methodology’ to extend/improve its use.

Several acellular methods, defined as oxidative potential (OP) assays, have been developed to assess the particulate matter (PM) oxidative capacity and they are considered as predictors of the ability of dust to generate oxidative stress in living organisms. There is no agreement regarding the most representative assay to measure the OP of PM (Ayres et al., 2008), but methods mostly used on the PM filter extracts are the dithiothreitol (DTT; Cho et al., 2005), the 2?,7?-dichlorofluorescin (DCFH; Hung et al., 2001) and the ascorbic acid (AA; Stoeger et al., 2008) assays.

Postoperative infections are a concern, especially in total knee and total hip arthroplasty.
We evaluated the air quality in orthopaedic operating theatres in southeastern Italy to determine the
level of bacterial contamination as a risk factor for postoperative infection. Thirty-five hospitals with
operating theatres focused on total knee and total hip arthroplasty participated. We sampled the air
passively and actively before surgeries began for the day (at rest) and 15 min after the surgical incision

For Europe, maritime transport has always been a catalyst for economic development and prosperity throughout its history. The European Union (EU) has adopted one of the most stringent maritime safety and marine environment legislation in the world. Its aim is to ensure a high level of safety, prevention of pollution and a level playing field, where all shipping operators, who follow good practices, are not put at a commercial disadvantage compared to those taking shortcuts in ship safety or pollution prevention.